In BE AFRAID OF THE ENORMITY OF THE POSSIBLE, from yellow through
orange down to red, we move along the layers of meaning which evokes
the sense of fear, abundance and possibility, all in all intertwined and dependent, as a threat and a promise, a warning and a challenge.
The colours of radiating neon light are simultaneously alarming and
smoothing; at the confluence of seduction and vigilance, we are
caught between a thrill of an unavoidable danger and an allure of a risky
pleasure. Jaar’s work BE AFRAID OF THE ENORMITY OF THE POSSIBLE.
appropriates a quote from the Romanian philosopher Emil Cioran (1911–
1995). Cioran is one of Alfredo Jaar’s favorite writers and is frequently
quoted by the artist. According to Jaar, Cioran is the poet of pessimism,
and the writer who best expresses the duality of the contemporary
condition and its strenuous harmony torn between despair and joy.

This unique copy of BE AFRAID OF THE ENORMITY OF THE POSSIBLE was
specially produced for display on the occasion of Jaar’s receipt of the
MacDowell Award in Peterborough.

The work has been shown in numerous exhibitions, with notable
presentations at the Toledo Museum of Art; Rollins College; Yorkshire
Sculpture Park, during Alfredo Jaar’s retrospective; and ARoS Aarhus Art
Museum in Denmark, as part of the exhibition Tomorrow Is the Question.